MDGs: Millenium Development Goals

This is a post I made on August 2015 on my previous page (realitybeyondborders.wordpress.com)

Many reports and international organizations constantly mention the Millennium Development Goals (or commonly known as the MDGs) and the Post-2015 agenda, and of course many stuff I write are related to those concepts, therefore it only made sense for my first post to detail what on earth are the famous MDGs and why people talk about the Post 2015 agenda.

MDGs

The MDGs are, as their name says, goals adopted by all United Nation’s Member States (aka 189) and at least 23 international organizations by ratifying the United Nations Millennium Declaration on the Millennium Summit back in the year 2000 (6 September to 8 September 2000, UN Headquarters, NY). These goals aimed at “improving the existence of many and for saving the lives of those threatened by disease and hunger” (1).

They are 8 (2), they are awesome and they are the following:

1) Erradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2) Achieve universal primary education

3) Promote gender equality and empower women

4) Reduce child mortality

5) Improve maternal health

6) Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

7) Ensure environmental sustainability

8) Global partnership for development

Each Goal has its own set of Targets, that are usually measured by a quantitative indicator to achieve and that helps evaluate each country’s progress.

In further posts I will explain each one of them but for now, those are the main points.2.

POST 2015

Now, what’s with this whole Post 2015 drama? The thing is that the MDGs were not forever, obviously there has to be a limit, and their expiration date is this year, 2015. Therefore, all countries and international organizations are like crazy evaluating progress and promoting new goals to achieve in a similar document. In appropriate terms, this year countries will shape and adopt a new development agenda the will build on the MDGs. Everyone is looking towards the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) that will be detailed in another post (3).

The new post-2015 development agenda builds on theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. Enormous progress has been made on the MDGs, showing the value of a unifying agenda underpinned by goals and targets. Yet despite this success, the indignity of poverty has not been ended for all.

The members of the United Nations are now in the process of defining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of a new agenda to finish the job of the MDGs, and leave no one behind.